An Award-Winning 1937 Ford Woodie A Long Way From The Beach

Have you ever noticed how certain popular street rod models tend to get stuck in a style? When we think of a 1941 Willys, it’s hard not to picture it as a Gasser. Mention a 1950 Mercury and we immediately imagine one dressed in traditional custom trim. What about woodies? That’s easy. They are the iconic Southern California surfer wagons and it’s almost a requirement for builders to add a roof rack with a couple of longboards on top.

Mike Terzich is a big fan of woodies. Living in Western Pennsylvania, Mike is far from any ocean and his street rod taste isn’t influenced by the beach—which may be why his award-winning 1937 Ford wagon is unlike any woodie we’ve seen.

The car had been started but wasn’t progressing when Mike and his friend, designer/illustrator Gary Ragle, started discussing the direction of the project. “I always wanted a woodie, and thought that the 1937 Ford was Henry Ford’s best example of one,” he told STREET RODDER. “We talked for months about building a car that wouldn’t detract from Henry’s original vision, but would build upon its lasting design and beauty. We focused on extreme contrasts. We needed this car to feel equally at home on display at a show or on a twisty back road or highway. The theory we wanted to test was simple: What if powerful, modern Pro Touring performance and technology were combined with one of history’s most classic, laid-back boulevard\beach cruisers? What kind of impact would it create if these two worlds collided?” Mike describes the resulting feel as “Dark Knight,” and he gave the hot rod a radioactive name: Carbon 14.

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For the giant step of transferring Gary Ragle’s detailed two-dimensional illustrations into a full-sized, fully operational, three-dimensional hot rod, Mike needed to bring in some pros. His choice was Clay Cook and the team at C. Cook Enterprises in Erlanger Kentucky.

Mike and his dad had purchased a 1937 Fordor sedan that would provide the pristine sheetmetal for the wagon. The exterior retains a stock appearance—with some noticeable tweaks. The headlights were updated to full LED and built with functional brake ducts to the front rotors. Legens Hot Rod built the custom 1937 Ford grille. The vertical slot taillight bezels, trim pieces, and license plate frame were machined. The wood body was handmade in hard maple by Cecil Taylor and Greg Moore at Hercules Motor Car Company. The flat panels are carbon fiber from Protech Composites. The sheetmetal was prepped and sprayed by Leo Vargas and Colin Esquibel of Showtime Paint in Gardena, California, using BASF single-stage black. PPG Aerospace clear topcoat was used to finish the wood.

The chrome plating is equally remarkable; Advanced Plating contrasted highly polished and satin finishes for an extraordinary effect. Even the license plate is custom. Jeremy Seanor at Luckystrike Designs in Pittsburgh used black paint and silver leaf to modify the Pennsylvania tag to match the body. Darrin Cutter installed the Stayfast cloth top.

The body rides on a custom chassis from The Roadster Shop. The wheelbase has been increased an inch, and the ’rails were pinched 5 inches in the front and rear. The crew at C. Cook custom-machined an independent front suspension based on a Mustang II design, with a Speedway Engineering sway bar. The rear consists of a Winters Championship 9-inch with a TrueTrac centersection holding 4:11 gears and 31-spline axles—located by drilled stainless four-bars and a Panhard bar. Fully adjustable JRI custom coilovers were mounted in all four corners.

B-Forged Performance Wheels are a special top-shelf line from Billet Specialties. The 530 SL model was chosen for the woodie. The 20×10 and 19×8 wheels were covered in 295/45R20 and 235/35ZR19 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW performance tires. The Wilwood disc brakes feature 13-inch cross-drilled and slotted rotors with six-caliper pistons in the front.

Mike wanted his wagon packed with power, and got his wish in the form of a Roush Performance 427-inch injected small-block Ford. Built specifically for the woodie, the Roush mill puts out approximately 525 hp. The fabricators at C. Cook dressed up the engine with CNC machined items, including the twin air cleaners covering the eight-stack intake, and the valve covers bearing the Carbon 14 logo designed by Gary Ragle. The oil pan, remote oil filter, freeze plugs, and reservoirs are also custom pieces. The Billet Specialties Tru Trac serpentine pulley system has a custom hardcoat anodized finish. Exhaust is directed through custom headers to titanium-coated 3-inch stainless pipes from Kooks Headers & Exhaust. The custom stainless mufflers are another detail created specifically for Mike’s vision for the car. Mike wanted Carbon 14 to sound, not like a Ford small-block, but like a European sports car—and now it does. Mike also wanted three pedals at his feet, so the Roush engine is backed up properly by a TREMEC TKO 600 five-speed transmission.

The interior puts contemporary hot rod technology in a nostalgic classic package. The Custom Autosound audio system and Classic Instruments custom gauges (based on their Big Ol’ Gauge series) are housed in an Art Deco–style console in the center of the dash—with mesh screening on the right and left. The door panels are wood and carbon fiber, attached using high-tech wood latching systems for easy access to the power windows. All interior lighting is LED.

The handles were made from molds of an early Bugatti handle, cast in brass and chromed. The rear door latch is a vintage German silver handle shaped to the design of the Woodie. The custom-machined steering wheel is mounted on a Flaming River column. The drilled I-beam shifter is another machined part, similar in design to the rear 4-bars. Darrin Cutter of Cutter’s Custom Stitchin’ created the handbuilt seats. The seat perimeters were upholstered in brown leather (like the rest of the interior). Aluminum seat inserts were covered in black Alcantara microfiber fabric. The retracting four-point racing harnesses are a safety feature added for Mike’s two young daughters, who love cars and going fast.

As the woodie neared completion, it was evident to Mike, Gary, Clay, and everyone else involved in the project, that the car would be competitive at the Detroit Autorama. They were right, and in March 2015 the show judges in Cobo Hall selected Carbon 14 as a Pirelli Great 8 finalist for the Ridler Award.

Sadly, Mike’s enthusiasm for finishing the project and the honor of winning a Great 8 award and others was diminished by his wife Belinda’s illness and her death later in 2015. Even so, this remarkable 1937 Ford woodie continues to impress, and continues to be enjoyed by Mike, his daughters, and everyone else who loves cars and going fast.